Cartridge



E. M. SWEELEY CARTRIDGE Filed July 21. 1920 Get. 16, 1923.

Patented Got. 16, 1923.

UNHTED STATES EVERETT M. SWEELEY, 0F BOISE, IDAHO.

GARTH/ID GE.

Application filed July 21,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EVERETT M. SWEELEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boise, in the county of Ada and State of Idaho, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cartridges, of which the following is a specification.

My improvement relates to a shot container carried in the shell. The shot charge when placed in the cartridge, is retained in such form that it will afiord a predetermined amount of space into which the shot will move radially under the stresses produced in the shot column upon firing.

Shot as'used in modern shotgun loading ispractic'ally spherical and hard so that the several pellets in the charge move rather easily on each other. For this reason a pressure applied to the base of the shot column in a load causes the development of a certain outward or radially tending force in the shot column. Movement in the line of'this radially tending force is prevented by the barrel of the gun. Although comparatively small in the top layers of shot this .force greatly increases toward the bottom of the column, driving the pellets on the outside of the charge into severe contact with the barrel. As'the shot column is at the same timemovin rapidly along the barrel these outside pel%ets .are ground away, from which action these pellets are flattened andirendered ineffective. The radially tendingforce, acting on'the shot column through the entire barrel passage with no relief, is greater than the choke action of the barrel can neutralize, in a choke bored barrel, and the shot charge, because of the unneutralized radially tending force, disperses or spreads rapidly.

The destruction of a portion of the shot by rubbing against the barrel, and the rapid spread after leaving the barrel, make necessary the use of a larger amount of shot in the charge in order to have left a sufficient number of effective pellets after leaving the barrel. The friction of the unrelieved shot forced against the barrel consumes a certain amount of the power developed by the powder, and this makes necessary a larger amountof powder to obtain a given velocity.

This radially tending force is in some part absorbed by the resistance offered by the wall of the shot column shaper, and after this gives way under stress, by the movement of the shot composing the shot 1920. Serial No. 397,823.

column in response to this force. These two factors leave only a portion of this force unabsorbed, and by the time the action of these two factors is complete the shot column has progressed sufliciently along the barrel so that the more severe part of the powder drive has been imparted to the shot column, and the radially tending force set up during the latter part of barrel passage is not suflicient to cause injury to the shot, or to be more than the choke can effectively ofi'set. This reduces the shot loss so that a smaller shot charge can be used to produce as great a number of effectives, and reduces the friction of the load so that an equal velocity can be obtained from less powder. It further permits a much closer and consistent control of the dispersion or spread of the shot in flight through the use of different degrees of choke.

Referring to the drawings, in aid of a clear exemplification of my invention Figure 1 is a longitudinal axial section of a cartridge or shell to which my improvements have been applied.

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view-at line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view of three forms of the column shaper or mold, each shaper shown partly in section for convenience of illustration.

The device consists of a shot column mold, made in the form of a hollow, truncated cone, open at both top and bottom. The larger end, called the top, has a diameter approximating the inside diameter of the shell in which it is used, but enough smaller to permit of easy insertion. The smaller end, called the bottom, has a diameter substantially less than the inside diameter of the shell, and according to the load needs, as hereinafter explained. The shaper is of sufficient length to contain the shot charge, or so much of it as may be desired. The wall of the shaper may be either straight as shown in Figures 1 and 3, or curved as shown at the right in Figure 3. The cross section of the shaper may be either circular or polygonal.

The mold or shaper is made of material having suflicient strength to hold its shape until caused to give way by the stress produced by firing. Paper, cardboard, metal, or other material having suflicient strength may be used, and a material which has a strength too great for the radially tending force to overcome properly may be weakened to the requisite degree by perforations, incisions or slits, or the shaper may be made of several component parts of stronger material held together by a weaker material which will give way under firing stress and permit the desired lateral or radial movement of the shot. In some cases a creasing of the material in making will be found effective.

It will be noted that the essential features of the device are the shape which provides a space about the shot column into which the shot may mo e under the radially tending pressure; (2) the resistance of the wall of the shaper to this action to a degree sufficient to absorb a part of such force; and (3) the movement of the shot under this pressure into the space provided so that it may come evenly and without too great severity into contact with the choke of the barrel. The wall of the shaper, after giving Way from the action of the force mentioned, is between the shot and the bore of the barrel, so that the shot in contact with the wall of the shaper does not come in direct contact with the wall of the barrel. This gives a buffer, or protector effect which further assists in avoiding injury to the pellets.

In the drawings, in Figure 1, is shown a shell having a primer 1, a powder charge 2, and suitable wads 3. A shot column shaper 4 is placed with the small end against the wads on the powder. The shot charge 5 is placed within the shaper, a closure wad 6 placed on top of the shot and the crimp, or turnover placed upon the closure member as in the usual loading practice. When the shell is fired the powder gas moves the wad column 3 along the shell and barrel of the gun. The first effect is to squeeze the shot column between these wads and the closure member, thus initiating the radially tending force, and as the shot leaves the shell and progresses along the barrel under the continuing drive of the powder, this radially tending force is increased, more being developed in the layers of shot nearest the powder because of the inertia of the overlying layers.

The wall of the shaper gives way under this force when it becomes great enough to overcome its resistance. The shot then moves into the space provided between the shaper and the shell. This requires a certain amount of time, during which the shot column is moving along the barrel, and during which the greater part of the powder thrust is exerted, so that the further outward radially tending force developed is not suflicient to drive the shot against the barrel with sufficient severity to cause injury to the pellets, or to prevent the action of the choke being consistently effective. The wall of the shaper being between the larger portion of the shot and the barrel assist this action and protect such shot from abrasion, or deformation.

At the muzzle of the gun the shaper, having served its purposes and given away is readily stripped from the shot charge by the action of the air, and leaves the shot charge to make its flight without further interference.

In designing the shaper member the amount of space into which the shot may move is accommodated to the load needs, the load needs being also controlling in the selection of the material, Smaller pellets in the shot charge, a larger quantity of shot, or larger quantity of powder, require a larger space for shot movement and a greater resistance in the wall of the shaper. The load needs are met through a proper combination of these two matters.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to obtain Letters Patent for- 1 1. A collapsible shaper :tor the shot column in a shell wholly within the walls of the cartridge case and touching said shell only at the outer end of the cartridge, a closure wad engaging the walls of the cartridge case, whereby a resistance is provided for the radially rending force set up by the drive of the powder gas, and a space about the shot column is provided into which the shot can move under such force after the shaper gives way upon firing.

2. In a cartridge the combination with a shell, a base wad and a closure wad engaging the walls of the cartridge case, of an intermediate column shaper wholly within the walls of the cartridge case forming an annu lar space in the shell and touching said shell only at the outer end of the cartridge, whereby the contained pellets may be disposed un der pressure radially of the shell and gun barrel during barrel passage.

3. In a cartridge the combination with ashell having a base wad and closure wad engaging the walls of the cartridge case, of a tapered, breakable, column shaper wholly within the walls of the cartridge case between said wads forming an annular space in the shell and touching said shell only at the outer end of said cartridge.

EVERETT M. 'SWEELEY. 

